# CVE-2020-16244: Weak cryptography in GE Digital APM Classic

> An attacker can decrypt stored passwords due to missing salt in hashing, enabling account takeover when combined with IDOR flaws.

- **Severity:** High 7.2 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 23 Sep 2020
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-x5q8-96h8-84w6

## What is CVE-2020-16244?

CVE-2020-16244 is a high-severity vulnerability in GE Digital APM Classic, published on 23 Sep 2020. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

GE Digital APM Classic, Versions 4.4 and prior. Salt is not used for hash calculation of passwords, making it possible to decrypt passwords. This design flaw, along with the IDOR vulnerability, puts the entire platform at high risk because an authenticated user can retrieve all user account data and then retrieve the actual passwords.

Weakness: CWE-759 (Use of a One-Way Hash without a Salt)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-16244?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Ge Asset Performance Management Classic.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-16244?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-16244 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2020-16244 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-16244 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in GE Digital APM Classic

- [CVE-2020-16240](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-16240/): Missing authorization in GE Digital APM Classic (medium 5.3)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-16244 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-16244 is a high-severity vulnerability in GE Digital APM Classic, published on 23 Sep 2020. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-16244 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: GE Digital APM Classic. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-16244/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-16244/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-16244
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-16244
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-16244

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-16244/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.